Estimating the Area of Virginia - Using Simpson's Rule

Click the button at the right to open a MAPLE worksheet entitled simpstudent.mws. If you are given a choice, you should save the file to your preferred directory, then navigate to that directory and open the file from there. In the MAPLE worksheet, position your cursor anywhere in the line [ > restart ; and press Enter. Pressing the Enter key executes the MAPLE code on the current line. Activating the restart command will clear all MAPLE variables, and it is important to do this whenever you start a new MAPLE project.

Now resize your MAPLE and browser windows so that you can see them both, side-by-side. Click in either window to make it the active window.

Your screen should look something like this:

2. Collection of Data

Notice that the MAPLE worksheet needs your input of the coordinates of points from a map of Virginia. We will use the Virginia map you saw earlier to find and mark these points. Click the picture at the right to learn how to get the point coordinates and store your coordinates in the MAPLE worksheet.

3. Visualization of Data

Now that you have entered your x and y coordinates, you can work through the MAPLE worksheet by pressing the Enter key on your computer to execute the MAPLE commands. (Note: The MAPLE window must be the active window.) The first output you see should be a red horizontal line (the southern border of Virginia) and eleven black points (the eleven, evenly spaced boundary points that you determined in section 2). You should be able to "see" that this line and eleven points give a rough outline of the state of Virginia. Repeat sections 2 and 3 until you are satisfied that you have obtained a reasonable rough outline of the state of Virginia.

4. Construction of Approximating Parabolas

This section includes the MAPLE commands that define the 5 quadratic functions we will use to construct our Simpson's rule approximation. Press the Enter key to execute the block of MAPLE commands.

5. Visualization of Approximating Parabolas

This section begins with a loop of MAPLE code that defines the vertical partition lines and ends with a display of the five approximating parabolas. Does the red outline look like Virginia? Compare your picture with the one at the top of this page . Note that the parabolic regions extend from the northern red boundary of Virginia to the x-axis.

6. Area Calculation by Integration

These MAPLE commands compute the sum of the areas between the approximating parabolas and the x-axis. This sum includes the area of the red region (the state of Virginia) as well as the area of the rectangular region between the southern boundary of Virginia and the x-axis. Thus, our Simpson's rule approximation (in square pixels) must be adjusted.

7. Area Calculation by Simpson's Rule Formula

MAPLE commands in this section use the Simpson's rule formula (from your textbook) to calculate the area between the parabolic curves and the x axis.

8. Solution

We must now convert square pixels to square miles. Use the map scale to determine how many pixels are equivalent to 80 miles. In the MAPLE worksheet, determine the conversion factor from square pixels to square miles, and use this factor to determine the Simpson's rule approximation (using 10 subintervals) for the area of Virginia.

9. Simpson's Rule Summary

The image at the top of this page shows the Simpson's rule approximation superimposed on the map of Virginia. Use this image to determine whether this approximation using 10 subintervals is an over- or under- approximation. Explain your reasoning, and include your response in the text cell provided in the MAPLE worksheet. Save your worksheet as simp10****.mws. (Replace the **** with your first initial and last name.)

Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to increase the accuracy of your approximation by using more parabolas. In this assignment, you will repeat the above process based on the collection of more data points.

Step 1: Open your simp10****.mws worksheet and save it as simp30****.mws. (You now have two copies of the same worksheet.)

Step 2: Use a live map of Virginia to collect 31 evenly spaced points on the northern boundary of Virginia. Your first point must be (24, 98) and the last point must be (474, 98). Paste these coordinates into your simp30****.mws worksheet.